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No truck with BSP in Lok Sabha polls or later: Jaitely

Lucknow, June 5 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Arun Jaitely Thursday said his party would have no truck with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the Lok Sabha elections next year or even later.

Jaitely, who is also in charge of the party's Uttar Pradesh affairs, told reporters that the BJP had burnt its fingers in the past by having an alliance with the BSP, which now rules the state.

Twice, in 1995 and in 2002, BSP leader Mayawati dissolved her BJP-supported government without taking the party into confidence. Keeping these experiences in mind, Jaitely said an alliance with the BSP was a strict no-no.

Asked if former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would contest the Lok Sabha election from the city, he said: 'I won't reply to this through the media.'

He described Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address to the nation Wednesday after announcing a hike in petroleum prices as a 'condolence speech'.

The prime minister had said that the hike was inevitable, but had been kept marginal.

Jaitely said Manmohan Singh had become an economist without any ideas, which was reflected in the sky-rocketing prices of essential commodities.

He said the Congress-ruled United Progressive Alliance had failed not only in keeping the economy in check but was also responsible for the increasing terror attacks in the country.

'The credibility graph of Sonia Gandhi (Congress president), her family and Manmohan Singh has also fallen.'

In reply to another question, he said if needed the BJP would field in the 2009 polls its veteran leaders from the Rajya Sabha.